Responding to Rees Milikin's request for information on Gatlinburg Golf Course. Located an hour or so from Knoxville we occasionally skipped school and played there in the late 1970's when it was called Gatlinburg Country Club, though public. The course is actually in Pigeon Forge - a stones throw from Dollywood in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains and was designed by William Langford in 1955, very late in his career. I had to forego a goodly amount of Busch beer to afford the fee but knew there was something unique about the course which I found to be head and shoulders better than other public offerings in the area. It has been re-worked by Bob Cupp, first in 1993 and then in 2007. I have not been back in 35 years but in driving by it appears the only change is the softening of greenside bunkering. After reviewing the fly-over on their website, it appears the only major change is the conversion of the 11th from a par 5 to par 4. It is possible the green has been moved slightly toward the tee and the tee has been moved forward approximately 150 yards. Prior to the change, the course featured a unusual stretch of holes, beginning at the 8th and going 3-5-5-5-3.
The routing is a tale of two nines. After playing steeply downhill at the first - and steeply back up to the green, the front is routed on a long steep slope with holes 2 through 7 playing back and forth along the side of the hill. It is relatively open with tree lines separating the holes. Fairways are generous as are the large greens with subtle movement, often built up on one or more sides to compensate for the hillside. I would describe the architecture as restrained so as to not compete with the dramatic site. I don't recall the original greenside bunkering but suspect it has been softened in the renovations as the bunkers are shallow and perhaps have been moved up the steep side slopes of the greens. The par 3 8th and par 5 9th head back uphill and return to the clubhouse. The 9th if the first of several holes that play through a narrow convergence of competing hillsides. The 9th looking back:
b399a74d3d16aeb19f122ddb81b4b91a by
Mike Hendren, on Flickr
As you see the long vistas are beautiful. Next up - the rollicking back nine.